Isaiah 30:12-22
Isa 30:12
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye
despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
Here God is declaring that he is the Holy One of Israel,
the very one they have despised and rejected.
They had despised his word both in the written form and the words which
he gave the prophets to give to them.
Instead, they trusted in Egypt to help them.
Egypt both oppressed them as slaves for 400 years and their perverseness
was to reject the true God and cling to their false gods which they did for
hundreds of years. Stay carries
with the meaning of relying upon.
Instead of turning back to the LORD, they placed their trust in Egypt.
Isa 30:13
Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready
to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an
instant.
The iniquity was their rejection of the LORD and his
warnings to them but while thy think they will have a strong fortress in Egypt,
in reality their trust is going to be like a breach in a wall.
A breach is like a rupture or a crack like a fissure.
It is like a great bulge which is ready
to fall and when it does it will take down the strength of the wall very
quickly.
Isa 30:14
And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters'
vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be
found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take
water withal out of the pit.
Just as an item which the potter made out of clay and was
hardened, if it was beaten with a stick or rod would be broken to pieces and not
so much as a sherd or a piece of it would be of any use to carry water or
anything else. As people use these
instruments to draw water with or to remove something hot from a fire or oven,
the potter’s vessel will be of no use to them.
In other words, what is in view here is the fact that the judgment of God
upon them will be severe.
Isa 30:15
For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In
returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be
your strength: and ye would not.
Here God again declares himself to be the Holy One of
Israel and has shown that there is still a chance to avoid the coming
destruction if they return to him, forsake the false gods and religions and rest
in the ways of the LORD. If they
would quietly submit to the will of God because he does not require great
fanfare or great feasts as the false religions do.
They would then have confidence in the LORD that his power and wisdom
would take care of them. They did
not exercise any quietness or peace because they were too busy always trying to
make worldly alliances. Instead of
returning to the LORD, they rejected his appeal to them and continued to walk
opposite of him.
Isa 30:16
But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore
shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that
pursue you be swift.
Instead of resting in the LORD, they decided they would
flee upon horses to other countries and try to build alliances with them to
prevent them from being invaded and destroyed.
However, the fleeing that would take place would not be to form alliances
but to flee from the pursuing enemy.
Their horses were trained for battle and would be much swifter than
theirs and this means that they would catch them and would not be able to
escape. The LORD had declared to
Hosea the prophet that he was going to save Judah but not through worldly means.
But I will have mercy upon the
house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them
by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. (Hosea 1:7)
He would have done the same for Jerusalem had they turned from the sinful
paths they chose to follow.
Isa 30:17
One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at
the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a
mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
And five of you
shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight:
and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. (Leviticus 26:8)
God gave this promise to Moses that if they remained obedient to him,
that just a few of them would be able to route their enemies but now that
promise has been turned against them.
Now when one of the enemy is seen, it shall plant fear in a thousand of
them and even if just five of the enemy is seen the entire army would flee in
fear. Then the fleeing Israelites
will be left on a mountain as a beacon to tell the world not to pursue the same
course of living that they did. The
ensign on the hill would be like a trophy of their victory showing the rest of
the world not to forsake the true God.
It would be like a drunken man standing alone showing those around him
that they should not become a drunkard or a drug addict who is near death would
be an ensign to those who would want to start using drugs.
Isa 30:18
And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious
unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for
the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for
him.
Based upon their unrepentant attitudes toward the LORD he
has chosen to wait. This waiting
period may be until after they have received the judgments of their ways
possibly the seventy years in Babylon.
Then when they have learned their lesson, the LORD will be able to be
gracious to them in restoring them and have mercy upon the remnant as they learn
from their judgments. God is a God
of judgment and he doles out judgments according to justice concerning the
offense committed. He does not dole
out judgments as a personal vendetta but according to the offense.
People are blessed who wait for him and are not sorry they did.
Instead of running from place to place to try and find peace, they can be
assured that resting in the LORD will yield a multitude of blessings.
For his anger
endureth but a moment; in his
favour is life: weeping may
endure for a night, but joy cometh
in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)
Isa 30:19
For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou
shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry;
when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
Then once the people have been restored at Jerusalem and
the temple rebuilt, there shall be a time of joy.
There was great weeping when the enemy came in and removed them from the
land and destroyed the temple but now there is going to come a time when they
will have joy. Whenever they have
times of distress and they cry unto the LORD, the LORD tells that he will hear
them and will answer them.
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and
shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. (Jeremiah 33:3)
This verse is also speaking about the times of the gospel when people
become saved and are dwelling in the New Jerusalem.
There will be no more weeping because God will wipe away those tears.
Thou wilt shew me the path of
life: in thy presence is
fulness of joy; at thy right hand
there are pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16:11)
God also guarantees that he will hear and answer the prayers of his
people. Many Christians claim that
God does not answer all our prayers but we keep forgetting a very important
truth, “No” is an answer whether we like it or not.
Isa 30:20
And though the Lord give you the bread of
adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed
into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
Then when times of adversity comes and times of being
afflicted, they will not be left without guidance and instruction.
The teachers who know the law will be available to seek the LORD for the
outcome of whatever adversity is being experienced.
They must understand that the LORD is the one who is bringing the
adversity and they will have teachers explaining to them if it was caused by
them or if it is a testing program for them. Their eyes seeing their teachers
means they will have full access to them as they will not escape or leave them
in those rough times. This verse
can also be applied to the true believers that when the times of adversity comes
they will have full access to their teachers who is God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. They may not be
seen with the physical eyes but they can be seen with spiritual eyes.
The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18)
Isa 30:21
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying,
This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when
ye turn to the left.
This verse is a metaphor for it likens the situation to
the shepherd which follows the sheep and guides them if they are walking out of
the way or to a dangerous situation.
They will be totally guided to walk in the correct way.
This may also be applied to the body of believers.
When an individual Christian begins to walk opposite the way of the Lord,
he then takes counsel from the shepherd who know his sheep and his sheep know
him.
And when he putteth forth his own sheep,
he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. (John
10:4) We know the Lord is the
one giving counsel when it does not go against what is taught in the scriptures.
Same as with ancient Israel when they heard the voice of the Lord and it
was in line with the law of God, they knew it was a true teaching or a guidance
from the LORD.
Isa 30:22
Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of
silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away
as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.